Capital International Inc. CA Increases Position in Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM)

Capital International Inc. CA boosted its holdings in shares of Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE:WM) by 20.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,896 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,711 shares during the period. Capital International Inc. CA’s holdings in Waste Management were worth $2,109,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Parnassus Investments LLC grew its stake in shares of Waste Management by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 4,799,687 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $859,624,000 after buying an additional 16,213 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Waste Management in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $784,486,000. Capital World Investors grew its stake in shares of Waste Management by 40.6% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 2,923,403 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $523,581,000 after buying an additional 844,298 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Waste Management by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,997,367 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $357,729,000 after buying an additional 38,828 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Waste Management by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,931,135 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $345,851,000 after buying an additional 17,254 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.40% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Waste Management

In related news, VP Michael J. Watson sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $220.00, for a total value of $330,000.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 44,144 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,711,680. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, VP Michael J. Watson sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $220.00, for a total value of $330,000.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 44,144 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,711,680. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, VP Michael J. Watson sold 4,208 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $204.28, for a total transaction of $859,610.24. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 45,644 shares in the company, valued at $9,324,156.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Waste Management Stock Down 1.5 %

Shares of WM traded down $2.96 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $196.96. The stock had a trading volume of 2,500,282 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,486,250. Waste Management, Inc. has a 1-year low of $149.71 and a 1-year high of $225.00. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $209.51 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $204.67. The company has a market cap of $79.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.24, a PEG ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.21, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 0.85.

Waste Management (NYSE:WM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The business services provider reported $1.82 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.82. Waste Management had a net margin of 12.13% and a return on equity of 39.52%. The business had revenue of $5.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.43 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.51 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Waste Management, Inc. will post 7.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Waste Management Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 21st. Investors of record on Friday, June 7th were given a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.52%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 7th. Waste Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 49.10%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently weighed in on WM shares. CIBC decreased their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $223.00 to $213.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $226.00 to $216.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of Waste Management from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 29th. Erste Group Bank restated a “hold” rating on shares of Waste Management in a report on Friday, June 14th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Waste Management from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Waste Management has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $215.83.

About Waste Management

Waste Management, Inc, through its subsidiaries, engages in the provision of environmental solutions to residential, commercial, industrial, and municipal customers in the United States and Canada. It offers collection services, including picking up and transporting waste and recyclable materials from where it was generated to a transfer station, material recovery facility (MRF), or disposal site; and owns and operates transfer stations, as well as owns, develops, and operates landfill facilities that produce landfill gas used as renewable natural gas for generating electricity.